Mario and Luigi - Stuck in Dreams and Nightmares
by Medicus Serpentis
Summary: There was a life. There was a game. The rules keep changing and the games doesn't play fair. Mario and Luigi have to play a game that can create and destroy universes and have to deal with things from their past. A Homestuck-Mario-Fusion.
1. Chapter 1

They say dreams don't tell what is about to come, but what has happened to us. There is a saying that the only thing more vague than the future would be the past. There are people who say that dreams are the door to our mind.  
So, when all of this is true... would that mean that dreams would show us a past we have forgotten?

The Dreamer himself doesn't know. He dreams...

_We played a game. Everything changed. We were alive and our life was a game. The Game ended. Someone's game ended._

_We grew up together. Where? When?_

_We... We... We..._

_I..._

_I played a game. I played it and it meant a lot to me. And you? You..._

_No._

_We played a game. Everything changed. The Rules. The Game._

_Our life._

_There was a game. And then... there was our life._

Mario woke up as he heard his brother gasping in his sleep. He couldn't help to feel a bit annoyed. Luigi had always had a light sleep and a tendency for lively dreams, but the nightmares that had haunted him for the last weeks were a strain on both of them.

The whole "lets go into your mind while you are sleeping and mess with it" thing just HAD to happen barely a week after Luigi had finally found restful sleep after the last ghost fiasco again. As annoying as losing sleep could be, Mario also became more seriously worried about his brother every day.

So he left the warm embrace of sleep and his own bed to walk over to his brother's.

"Luigi? Hey, You okay, bro?"

Luigi looked at him, his eyes wide and his breathing still way too fast and ragged.

"M...Mario?"

Mario just sat at the edge of Luigis bed and looked at him. Even after all this time he just couldn't bear to see his brother this terrified. And Luigi looked like something really spooked him.

"Still these dreams?"

"... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up..."

"It's okay. It's not your fault. Just... are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?"

"... I would, Mario, but... I just can't remember.", said Luigi quietly. "I.. I'm just so afraid but when I wake up I don't even know WHY." He sighed. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be, Luigi. I should be sorry... you had to endure a lot in our last adventures...", said Mario and, seeing the begging look on Luigi's face, decided to climb to his brother into his bed.

Not everyone would admit it, but sometimes there is no better cure for the haunting feeling after a nightmare than a hug from a loving sibling and a talk in the dark.

Luigi first said nothing but looked a bit more relaxed when he felt the warmth of his brother beside him.

"I think I dreamed about... the End of Games, you know...?"

"... about the Underwhere?"

"I don't know. Maybe. It looked a bit like it... It was really scary there. In the Underwhere, I mean."

"It was frightening to find you there.", said Mario, sighing. There were things that would forever haunt him. This was one of them.

"You were scared?"

Mario blinked. Luigi seemed surprised at this notion and he didn't understand why Luigi could have thought differently.

"Of course I was scared! First thing, the Underwhere IS a scary place. And I thought you were safe and sound at home and then I find you in the river Twygz and... For a moment, I thought your game had ended and I hadn't been there for you, didn't even know what happened. I thought there was nothing I could do."

That seemed to calm Luigi but Mario had a feeling that this was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Did you really think that something like that wouldn't affect me?"

"No... no, I know. It's just... Sometimes.", answered Luigi.

"Sometimes what?"

"Nothing. I just had this nightmare one time, you know? Where everybody hated me because I did something that was really, really bad for... everything. Like... dooming everything and everyone with one stupid mistake. And it was all my fault. Did you ever had such a nightmare, that just... doesn't let go of you?"

Mario was silent for a few minutes, thinking. Luigi's nightmare sounded like something out of the years when... well... things really had been hard for Luigi. When people would forget his name and make life difficult for him for no good reason. But things had begun to turn around, people recognised him nowadays, even Bowser had managed to remember Luigi's name. Even when Luigi tended to have a lot of bad luck in the past, Mario couldn't think of one situation where he could do something that would result in open hate for him from anyone.

But it wasn't as if Mario couldn't relate. When so many people look up to you, you couldn't help but to worry about disappointing them one day.

"Sometimes... Not often, but sometimes, I have a nightmares and occasionally I think about some things over and over and over."

What exactly haunted his darkest hours wasn't something he should burden Luigi with, thought Mario.

"But no matter what, we live in the present. And I know that as long as I have my brother by my side, we can do anything.", said Mario, smiling warmly at his brother.

That made Luigi smile a bit, too, and Mario felt somewhat relieved. Seemed like he had been successful in cheering up Luigi.

"You are right, bro. Thank you."

"Not for that. And now sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."

If Mario had known how right he was with that, he wouldn't have fallen asleep as fast and peacefully as he did.

_" What do they feed you Mario Brothers, anyway? Gullible Soup?"_

_" STOP MESSING WITH MY BRO!"_

_" I'm a Ghost Hunter!"_

_" Take me with you!"_

_" I don't want to be alone..."_

_" ...please... don't..."_

_" Mario?"_

_" MARIO!"_

The next morning brought letters from the princess and some much welcome distraction from nightmares and unhappy thoughts. So they headed off to the castle, excited for the news Peach promised in her letter.

It seemed to be the start of another adventure. Mario would say it sounded just like it always did. Professor E. Gadd, genius, inventor and friend of Luigi, came to the palace with news of a discovery. It sounded so... simple. Even fun.

A game, that people had played many, many years ago. Some sort of myth. An exiting myth from cultures long gone, and it involved some kinds of puzzles and all that stuff.

"You mean... people believed that you can create a WORLD when you play the game?", Luigi asked, fascinated but sceptic.

"Not a world, my young friend.",Gadd said with a slight laugh. "A whole new universe! This is the price you get for beating the game. A universe and a world that the players always wanted. A recreation of what they deem their paradise. Well... what the Game would recognise as what would be considered a paradise. There ARE a few warnings that this could be twisted into something the player wouldn't intent, but that's the gist of it."

Mario looked at Peach who hadn't said anything the whole time.

"What do you say, princess?"

"Hmm? Oh... yes, this sounds... very strange. Where did you find all of that, Professor?"

"The new dig at the very edge of your kingdom. The Beanbean kingdom was very helpful when I had to expand on their land."

"The Beanbean Kingdom?", Luigi asked, head moving upwards. Mario smiled a bit at that. He knew what Luigi was thinking. "Was Prince Peasley there? How is he?"

"Oh, he visited the dig one day. A very fabulous guy, huh? He seemed fine."

Mario just grinned at the look on Luigis face. He didn't know why but the prince and his brother were somehow drawn to each other. Peasley would praise just about anything about Luigi and Luigi alternated between being flattered and flustered about it and holding Peasley on a pedestal himself. It was kind of endearing. (And a relief that there were people out there who would appreciated Luigi as himself and not just as his brother. Even if Mario could never quite wrap his head around the fact that a bean was flirting with his brother and said brother didn't seem to mind.)

Unfortunately, Peasley had his responsibility to his kingdom and Luigi himself was to dedicated to protecting the Mushroom Kingdom (and to the part-time-jobs done for Professor Gadd) to go on vacation very often.  
They DID write letters. Mario knew about them even if his brother tried to keep them a secret. It wasn't that they wrote each other embarrassing stuff (Mario checked. He WAS a bit ashamed of that but he couldn't bring himself to care too much) but some things were pretty personal between them (those were the things Mario tried to forget as soon as he had read them. There WERE things he never wanted to know about his brother and things Luigi would never want Mario to know. And other things he waited for Luigi to tell him. His brother should know better than to be afraid of being judged, but Mario would let him keep his own pace with that.)

The letters from DAISY on the other hand? Whole other kind of ball-game. Luigi would have his head if he would read THEM.  
He smiled a bit at the memory of his brothers face as he snatched a letter from Daisy out of his hand this one time, head red as a tomato and stuttering like crazy. Mario never figured out what was between Luigi and Daisy. Or Luigi and Peasley.

Sometimes he thought about how it would be a good idea if the three of them would meet up together. But he wouldn't meddle with the love-life of his brother... much.

He grinned a bit at this thought, as he looked at Luigi chatting with the professor. His eyes moved back to the princess.

Mario still saw the thoughtful look on Peach's face.

"Princess? Is everything all right?"

"Huh? Oh... yes, Mario... It's just... this tale reminds me of something my mother once told me... but... I can't seem toremember."

"Well, but I didn't come here just to tell you about the game. I came because I believe I have found a way to PLAY it. But because it seem to be quite dangerous...", Gadd begun to explain, letting the end of his sentence fade into silence.

Luigi looked at Mario, half-fearful, half... interested? Oh, Mario grinned a bit. Luigi had an adventurous streak, he just didn't let it out very often. But this? Luigi was so hooked on this game-thing! It would be fun if it was what Mario thought it was. And would maybe bring Luigi some more happy-thoughts than their last adventures.

"You want help from Mario and Luigi, huh?", Peach said, a smile on her lips.

"Yes, yes. I would like their help."

_" Look! Look what I have found! It's like... the coolest thing EVER!"_

_" It's a game. Calm down, okay?"_

_" You just saying that because you didn't play it. Everybody says that it's amazing! Like the greatest game EVER!"_

_" Yeah? Well, play it then... Maybe we play it together later, okay?"_

It turns out that they had no CHOICE whether to play the game or not. Gadd found out that meteors were heading straight for the Mushroom Kingdom only hours later and the only thing that could save them would be to play the game and relocate everything to the "Medium" or to create a world where they all could survive.

It wasn't a good plan. Mario would later say that it was a very, very bad idea. But nobody knew better and nobody had a better plan. Luigi even said so himself. He convinced Mario that there was no other way. So they did it. Mario and Luigi started the game.

_I don't know... I just don't know. I don't remember. We just played a game. It was a game, wasn't it? But we forgot._

_I don't remember their faces. I don't remember who they were. I don't remember that I forgot._

_It was... it was and then it wasn't and..._

_Why don't we remember?_

_Why do they not remember me? Why did they forget me?_

_Or was it just a dream?_


	2. Chapter 2

Gadd provided them with the means to play the game. He set Mario and Luigi up as each other's server players, each of them at a different place of the kingdom. Mario at his and Luigis home, and Luigi in his own mansion at the other end of the Kingdom.

There was a debate about whether or not they should take people with them into the Medium, into the Game. A consensus was made that if they won the game nobody would get hurt if they stayed in the Kingdom and if they lost... well, then it wouldn't make a difference. And if they did take people into the game, they would only be in danger because of the monsters and other things that might await them.

So Mario and Luigi went alone, only with Gadd's voice from his laboratory to guide them through the first steps.

He told them that there would be other players. That the game would choose other people to play with them, because it would be nearly impossible to play as just two people. He told them to find their title and their aspect. He told them that they would need a time player, a space player and that it would be good if there was a knight. He told them how to enter the Medium. He told them about the basic rules of the game, about the inventory system, the fight system and many more.

He told them to be careful. He told them about their dream selves. He told them to work together.

He told Mario to do his best to win the game. He told Luigi to look after his brother and himself. He wished both of them the best of luck.

He knew that there wouldn't be a light-player among them. And no seer either.

_" Hey? Why do you cry?"_

_" Because it's Game Over! The Game is over!"_

_" Hey... hey, it's not so bad. It's just a game..."_

_" But... but, it was... it was HIS Game. And now it's over!"_

_" HIS Game? But... he..."_

_" DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?"_

_When did life become a game... and a game life? Why did he do this? Why did he let this happened?_

The first thing that happened was that Mario was quite annoyed about the fact that he and Luigi had to split up for this whole thing. And that they had to use devices like the Game Boy Horror DS. Luigi seemed to get the hang of this thing pretty quickly but Mario just couldn't work with it.

Setting up the necessary items for entering the medium was a bit of a hassle. Especially because he didn't know where to place the things in Luigi's house. AND the Communication was a bit iffy at first and Mario really, really didn't like not knowing what his brother was doing.

There were tasks to do, though. His first Item had to be alchemized which would bring him and his home to the Medium.

He could already see the meteor heading for his home. The first item crafted looked a bit like a strange, red mushroom. With the meteor coming nearer every second he didn't have much time to think and just took a bite out of it.

The House of the Mario brothers disappeared right before the meteor created a crater nearly as big as the entire Mushroom kingdom.

_" Bro, you won't leave me alone, anymore?"_

_" No... No, I promise. From now on, I will be always there for you. Whenever you need my help, I swear I will be there and will be helping you."_

_… you lied._

The first thing Mario did in the Medium was to try and contact Luigi. He got a message that Luigi was on his planet, but he had no chance to speak with him just yet. The professor didn't answer, too. Only a pre-recorded message played whenever he called and told him more about what they had to accomplish in the game.

Choose your strifespecibus. Alchemize items you can use. Secure your position. Look out for Imps. And speak to your Spriteguide.

Mario had considered not prototyping anything pre-Medium, but unfortunately, it was necessary so the battlefield could be ready to breed a new universe.

It was kinda hard to choose. Nothing really came to mind. Something powerful? Or something weak? Something he held dear or something that he wouldn't care about if he lost it.

Ultimately, the choice was made for him: A Fireflower fell into the kernel as the shock after a meteor impact near the house knocked it off its place on a shelf, turning the bright-red kernel into a beautiful red flower.

A flower that now had a face and could TALK.

" OMG FIREFIREDIREBURN. FLAME. FIREBRAND. SUNSUNSUNSUNSUN."

Well, nobody said that it had to make sense.

Mario sighed at that. He just hoped that Luigi had more luck with hi s kernel.

Anyway, he should also choose his strifespecibus. It was a simple choice, really. His trusted Hammer would play the big offensive card in his game and as long as he didn't do anything to his shoes, he could still use his jump.

" FIREFIREFIREFIRE BURN!"

Mario took that as a compliment.

Okay, time for a plan: Alchemizing stuff. Securing his home. And then: Adventuring!

_" Fire!"_

_" Thunder!"_

_" We did it! We destroyed the evil Overlord! We freed the world!"_

_" Yahoo! We are the best!"_

_" Ahahaha!"_

_" Hahahaha!"_

_" Ahahahaha! God, that's so much fun."_

_" Yeah... Hey, Mario? Do you think that there are heros like that?"_

_" Maybe? I don't know... but it would be awesome! We could be like... the super-brothers!"_

_" Super-Brothers? Mario, you are never allowed to name anything like ever!"_

_" Hey!"_

The Imps looked a bit ridiculous with their leaf-like hands and flower pendants around their necks. But Mario didn't find them so ridiculous anymore when he discovered that they could shoot fireballs. It wasn't quite like the powers he got from the Fireflower but close enough.

It got a bit more complicated as they started to get ghost-powers and Mario knew in this instant that Luigi had prototyped his kernel.

He was sure that it had to be an accident. But by the Stars, it was annoying! (Luigi apologised as soon as they could establish  
communication again.)

Mario explored his planet alone.

Four days, three hours, five minutes and counting...

_" Hey... what is your biggest wish?"_

_" I don't know... be a hero, maybe?"_

_" Hey... a shooting star! What do you wish?"_

_" ..."_

_To be like you._

_" I wish to be a great plumber just like my big bro."_

_" If you had one wish... what would it be?"_

_" To help my brother."_

_Please... oh please, please, please, please, please..._


	3. Chapter 3

SOMEBODY processed a Gumba and a Koopa. The resulting Imps were a sight to behold and should be destroyed before they laid eggs. Well, that was Mario's opinion. The Imps didn't give much experience so he would have to destroy a lot of them to gain any levels... but it would be worth it. And if not for EXP, then at least to get rid of them.

Luckily they still had their weakness of a good jump to the head. It was easy to hop from Koomba-Imp to Koomba-Imp (Mario would never let Luigi name something ever again), leaving spoils and Gist flying around. Imps were easy, but Ogres... well, more then one of them could be a problem.

Mario jumped high and landed on a small platform overseeing a good stretch of the land before him, and drew his eyebrows close in concern.

The Land of Sun and Stars, his planet, was really breathtaking. There was a giant sun as a centre and countless star-shaped planets flying around. It reminded him a bit of his adventures in outer-space and his consorts looked a bit like Lumas too... but the monsters were a big problem. It wasn't possible to do anything around here without running into some of them.

Two golden Ogres were standing in front of him and Mario knew that he could always just take on one of them. In most cases this wouldn't have been a problem. Mario was fast enough to battle one and stay out of the other's attack-range. The problem HERE was that THESE Ogres had aspects of his brother's prototypes...

Which meant they were a part-ghost. And since they could make themselves intangible on will, his HAMMER OF MIGHT AND FIRE wouldn't to a lot damage to them. Even less if said hammer just passed right through them. It was not looking good for him. But he had to try.  
A good jump upwards. A salto mid-air. A perfect landing on the big head of the Ogre and a mighty swing with his hammer. The HP of the Ogre dropped by a half, but now he turned intangible and Mario just felt through.

" WAAAAHHHH!"

And it was a steep fall from top of an Ogre to the ground. Well, if you want to call the fire of a sun 'ground'. Why by the stars did he had to get a planet that wasn't a planet at all?

" MARIO!"

Suddenly there was a hand that grabbed his and he was not falling but flying.

" Luigi?"

Mario blinked. He hadn't expected his brother to be around, but he was glad nevertheless. It was good to know that his twin and partner-in-adventuring had his back... and hand.

" Hi, bro. Sorry for being late but I couldn't find my second portal because of all the shade and..."

He was interrupted by the screeching Ogre. Luigi, flying on something that looked like a bean with wings (where had he seen a thing like this before?) and holding on to Marios hand had to steer quit a bit before they both where out of the attack-range of the monster.

"Nevermind, Weegie. You got an idea what to do with them?"

" Sure, bro." Luigi grinned. "Look!" Suddenly he had a kind of strange vacuumcleaner on his back. It did look a bit like the Polterduster 5000 and hat the iconic " "-Symbol on its back but it was green and glowed slightly in the orange light of the sun.

" You have a... Vacuumkind Strifespecibus?"

" It was the only thing that helps against ghosts, you know? And I did kind of prototype a Sneaker... these things always gave me the creeps. So I had to adjust."

How could Mario forget? Even though it had been the most terrifying night (more like nights after the thing with the Dark Moon) in his life, Mario always recalled fondly how Luigi had saved him, overcoming his fears and insecurity for him, with only the help of an old (but genial) professor and a vacuumcleaner.

" Yeah... I know... But... what is that?"

" Little experiment with the alchemizer. It's called the Buster-Duster 5000. Watch!" And with this words Luigi held the end of the vacuum towards the ghostly Ogre and pressed a green switch. A bright laser-like light came out and suddenly the HP of the Ogre dropped one by one. A little light at the side of the vacuumcleaner began to shine brighter and brighter.

" Mamma Mia! It's draining it?"

" Jep. Cool, isn't it, bro? The HP even are convertible into some kind of healing-potion. It's handy.", Luigi replied, gesticulating with one hand to a small display on the side of the vacuum. A blue-ish looking liquid was visible filling some kind of tank.

Mario wasn't sure whether it qualified as "cool". He had to admit it was handy but something about this... and about Luigi irked him. But this was no time to think about it. He readied his hammer.

" Luigi? Can you fly closer to the second Ogre?"

" Oki-doki, bro."

And with a swift swing, some vacuuming and a double-jump from the brothers, the Ogre came down heavy, exploding in Gist and all sorts of building material.

" Well, that was... intense.", said Mario and looked to his brother. "And it's good to see you, Weegie.", he said, a bit small smile at his lips and his voice soft around the old nickname for his brother.

" You too, bro. Wow, your planet is beautiful. Mine is just... dark."

" Land of Shade and Thunder was it?"

" Yeah... and the inhabitants look like Boos."

Mario couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his brothers discomfort. Well, Luigi seemed to have always a bad case of bad luck, even in reality-altering games that will create a new Multiverse.

" It's not funny, Mario."

" I know, I know, I'm sorry... it's just... well... okay, I kinda think it's funny. Just a bit."

Luigi just gave him a flat glare.

" Hey, don't look at me like that! Anyway, have you found out your aspect yet?"

" Yeah... apparently I'm the "Knight of Heart", whatever that is. The... The Boomies were a bit vague on that."

" Your consorts call themselves Boomies?"

" Like you are one to talk with "Lumarians"."

Mario had to laugh at that. So many people never saw what a dry sense of humour his brother had.

" Okay, okay. You have me... So... Knight of Heart, huh? Well, then we should find the Space-Player soon... you will need to work with him or her..."

" So, you are not the space-player?"

" No... I'm the Heir of Time. No clue what that means."

" Well, the professor said something about that every session of the game needs a Time and a Space player to be winable... So... you are the Time-Player... Have you found this... Thing already? You know, on your planet?"

Mario shook his head. Well, it was a bit complicated to find something if you had only a very vague impression of what you were searching.

" No... and no time-travel for me at this moment either... but I think with the material from the Ogres I can alchemize something later."

" Oh... cool, bro."

" And you? Any new powers yet?"

" Well..."

A cascade of emotions washed over Luigi's face. Gone was the slight humour in Luigi's eyes or the seriousness that he had when he talked about a job. Mario wondered what this meant... there was excitement but also fear and... shame? What by the stars had Luigi discovered?

" I... I did find something out... and how to reach God Tier... but... but it's scary and I don't know if I want to..."

Mario just was confused. They had learned early in the game that reaching God Tier Level was really important to beat the Dark King and win the game. What could scare his brother so much?

" Luigi... what do we have to do?"

" ... we... we have to die."

_Death? No... no, it's Game Over. When someone dies... that means their Game is Over. They go to the Underwhere or to Overthere. Right?_

_They aren't... they don't just leave. You can find them if you look hard enough._

To reach God Tier they had to find their Quest Beds and meet some other requirements. And they quickly learned that the game itself was a complicated mess of RPG-elements all over the map. There were so many Quests and Sidequests, so many things to do...

Unfortunately many things had to be done on their own. Mario didn't like it that he had to be separated from his brother just after they had found each other. If past experiences taught him one thing then that they were stronger and could do anything if they were together. But noooo, this game just liked to be a big plug in a pipe.

So Mario had to go on a quest to discover his powers as the Hero of Time, while Luigi had to go on on his quest of the way of Heart... whatever that meant. They stayed in touch via Gameboy Horror DS (something Luigi still had always on his person. A copy was easily made for Mario) but it just wasn't the same.

Mario DID see him at some point, though.

Some quest required travelling to other planets and getting some things from there. Mario had to make some trips to Luigi's planet, often to get Ectoplasma (blue stuff that glows in the dark that exists like water on LoSaT) or Pulsars (violet Crystals that were the stand-in for flora on Luigis planet). He was just getting a few more bottles full and thought about how to transport some of the larger Crystals as he heard a loud crashing in the distance. Unable to resists his curiosity, he run to where the sound came from.

And so he found Luigi and was seriously a bit stunned.

Mario just watched his brother hammering some Imps away, a small smile on his face. It wasn't often that he could watch Luigi fight, they often fought at the same time watching each other's backs, but there was never time to just OBSERVE.

He was good. Very good. Mario was a bit confused that Luigi used Hammerkind, when he clearly had only Vacuumkind in the past and the game allowed only one Strifespecibus per person... well, maybe the game made exceptions? Or Luigi had found a way to switch?

He didn't ponder to long about it, he just watched his brother fighting, a sense of pride swelling in his chest. Luigi had come a long way and he was so proud of him. He remembered the beginnings, their childhood, how Luigi had never been a fighter and unbelievable clumsy. He would trip or injure himself instead of hitting somebody else.

Aside from that, Luigi just wasn't the kind of person who would use non-verbal methods of solving problems. Mario kind of knew that that was a better approach but a Gumba just wouldn't listen to the finer points of problem-management that Luigi cultivated. But that was how they were: Mario was more the hands-on type and Luigi preferred a more non-violent method.

But now? Now his fightingstyle was beautiful. His body was lean, muscle and flexibility perfectly balanced and he seemed to have everything under control. He flipped trough the air, muscles working precisely and every movement felt like it was intended and well calculated. It looked like a dance, like a beautiful homage to everything a human body could do with grace and Mario was proud and a bit stunned by the display of competence.

And his hammer was beautiful. Made out of what appeared to be green glass from the distance but was powerful and unbreakable. The imps never stood a chance.

Unfortunately Mario had no time to speak with his brother. (He didn't even have time to watch him actually, but he couldn't help himself.) He had to go on his next mission on his quest and the ectoplasma would spoil after a short time. So he gave Luigi one last look, decided that he had everything handled and leaped through the next portal back to his planet.

He didn't see his brother for three days. He told himself that Luigi could look out for himself, that he would call him if he needed help, that he was strong and didn't need his brother to be constantly looking out for him.  
It didn't change the clenching feeling in his hearth.

(Three Days, 5 Hours, 24 Minutes, 12 Seconds... 13...14...15...)

_" Do you remember when we were kids? The other children made fun of your accent so you wouldn't speak for weeks."_

_" Yeah... how did they call me? "The silent Mario"? Did I ever thank you for being my voice at that time? It was pretty dumb from me, but..."_

_" I understand, bro... and I did understand as a child. But it's strange how things have changed, huh? Now nobody will ever make fun of the accent."_

_" Yeah... but why did you bring this up?"_

_" Huh? Oh... well... do you remember... how we got it? I... don't remember Mum or Dad talking our language... or the Yoshis. Or anybody else we knew for a fact... The professor asked me a few days ago and... I honestly don't know."_

_" I... hmm... well... I don't remember... maybe it's like the thing with our baby-selves. We didn't remember that too, did we?"_

_" No... I think you are right."_

_… but... why did we forgot so much about ourselves?_


	4. Chapter 4

The lore of Marios planet was slightly confusing. From what he had gartered, his planet used to be... well... a planet, until his denizen had come and split it up. The sun in the middle of his planet was at the core of his planet. His Denizen, Sol, had broken his planet and set the core free, creating this splintered nightmare of a land.

His companions were scattered and fearful of all this and the constant light made it difficult to sleep.

Heh, come to think about it, Luigis planet had a similar problem with sleep. Only that his companions could sleep, but they would have nightmares so strong that they were terrified of it. Luigi told him that he experienced one of those the one time he felt asleep after a draining fight against an Ghost-ogre, but he wouldn't tell him what the dream was like.

Maybe Mario didn't even want to find out if the haunted look his brother had while telling his tale was something to go by.

Both of them had to do something to enable their companions so sleep well again and fix their planets. So Mario took on quests, spoke with the Lumarians and learned all sorts of stories, lore and of course, the Legend of Sun and Moon.

" The Legend of Sun and Moon?", Mario asked the eldest Lumarian, that was some kind of leader of the village on the largest part of the planet.

" Yes, indeed. It's an old tale around here. It goes a bit like that:

There were once two siblings. There were twins and the only children of a great Force in the universe. And because they were well-beloved, their parents gave each of them a gift. The slightly older one got the Sun. A fire-y ball of heat that could light up everything, wherever the older one went. The younger one got the Moon. A ball of stone , but one that could reflect the light of the Sun, turning the harsh beam into a faint glowing light and making every night beautiful and soft.

Their parents left them to care for other lifeforms with their new gifts. And care did they bring. The older one with their Sun turned the day bright and gave them warmth. And the younger one with its Moon, which reflected the light of the Sun in the night when the Sun couldn't shine, lightened up the way for travellers and brought the tender embrace of the night with it.

And the people loved them, loved the care and the beauty that came with the Sun and the Moon and their guardians.

But over the time, people began to praise the Sun more and more. And why not? The Sun gave them warmth and light and the day. The Sun was so big and bright and wonderful. And the Moon? It was only seen at night were everybody would sleep after a long day and so its guardian became more and more forgotten.

And the younger sibling became saddened. They didn't hate their sibling or the people who had forgotten them, but with time, they became sadder and sadder. And all their sadness had nowhere to go. Even if the older one did notice something, nothing could be done.

So in the night, the younger one would sit on their Moon and cry, because it was hopeless. Nobody could be forced to remember and love the Moon or its guardian. And nobody did. And the feelings of loneliness and the bitter tears of a being in pain and forgotten would form a sea on their Moon. The tears of sadness and bitterness would finally seep down to the land below, into the mind and dreams of the people who lived there, forming the first nightmares.

It was a horrifying experience for the people and nobody knew what had happened. So the guardian of the Sun set out to find out, because the people would not sleep and would be tired during the day.

And after a long time, the older one found out. What their sibling had done and what had happened because of it. They found their younger sibling sitting on the edge of a gigantic sea on the Moon, filled with their tears and found the overflowing liquid seeping into the void and knew that this created the nightmares.

The older sibling was shocked and confused and angry at the same time. How could that happened to their beloved sibling, how could nobody see the loneliness and how all this was slowly eating away at their sibling?

But it was too late now. Because the feelings of the younger, the longing after SOMEONE who would notice it, had created something powerful but dangerous. Nyx, the Mistress of Nightmares, was born from the sea of tears on the Moon and the older sibling knew that she would destroy everything, for she was a being born from sadness and bitter feelings, nothing more than power and negative emotions, bend on freeing herself from the sea and killing every soul the Moon guardian's tears had touched.

There was no other way. The older sibling sealed Nyx away, but with this act ended up killing the younger sibling.

Broken from this loss and horrified by their actions, the Guardian of the Sun threw themselves into their Sun, dying inside of it.

The people were confused about what had happened. Nobody really understood why their beloved guardian had died. Nyx lived on, now even madder after the dead of her creator and even more determinate to break free. And the Sun itself seemed to mourn its guardian's death.

Over time, it drew planets and rooks to itself more and more, until a gigantic sphere was formed around it. The Sun hid itself from the universe, disguising itself as a mere planet, maybe in hope to forget or maybe in hope to draw life nearer to itself. Life, that both her guardian as well as their sibling loved.

And this is how this world was created."

Mario looked at the elder Lumarian, still deep in thought.

" It's... a very sad story.", Mario said.

" Well... isn't that the case with most of them?"

" I think you are right..."

Mario left the Elder one with an uneasy feeling. The story just hit to close to home.

" I wonder if my denizen is some kind of residual from this Guardian.", wondered Mario. "And... I wonder if they miss their sibling still..."

_" I can still fix this. I CAN FIX THIS!"_

_" No... No, you can't. Not this."_

_" But..."_

_" NO!"_

_I still had to try. I'm sorry, but I still HAD to try, because it was my only chance._

_I am so sorry._

Luigi told him that he had heard the story of the Sun and Moon on his planet, too. Only that in his version, the Sun ended up dying to save their sibling, killed by Nyx but freeing their sibling from chains that Nyx had woven around her creator.

The Guardian of the Moon was blamed for the death of the older sibling by the people and in their pain, the guardian decided that nobody could ever look at the Sun, the precious thing of their sibling, again and encased it into stone.

The Guardian of the Moon then wandered off, never to be seen again and maybe even dead like their sibling or still wandering in darkness and loneliness for the rest of eternity.

Mario didn't know which version of the story was more depressing...

Later he learned the full name of his denizen: Sol, the Clockmaker.

He didn't want to face a being like that just yet.

_" I... I just want to... to turn back time. This... this all... please... let it be a bad dream."_

_" ... I'm so sorry, Mario... I... I wish I could, too... but... but..."_

_" It's not your fault. It... it is nobodys fault. Just... just... it's just so UNFAIR."_

_" I know..."_

_But it was my fault. My fault. Oh God, I'm so sorry..._

Against all odds they found each other and their quest-beds some time later. They were just two big slaps of stone, one red, the other pink, with the symbols of Time and Heart, located in the catacombs of Dense (And boy, had it been trouble getting there).

Mario thought that it was very morbid to call them "beds" as if death was just a nice sleep... Actually, this was the whole problem: Death.

In this strange reality weren't any one-ups. No extra-lives. No failsafe. It wasn't even something like "the End of one's Game". They have to die and hope that their dream-selves were still alive. Mario hadn't awoken yet and his brother said that he wasn't awake either. But Luigi was so sure that they were still alive. Mario... wasn't so sure but willing to trust his brother, even when Luigi couldn't explain what made him so sure.

_" No! No, you could DIE!"_

_" No! You don't understand! I won't die! It will just end my Game!"_

_" No! NO! DON'T!"_

_… I... I really wish life would work like that... please... please..._

" Mario?"

He could feel Time ticking. He always had a good sense for time, how many seconds had passed since he had stepped into enemy territory. Now that he was a hero of Time, his senses only sharpened.

But he didn't gain any form of time-travel. Nothing he tried came out right. Still, he did manage to create some sort of clocks that could stop time for a few seconds. He was surprised he could replicate the effect of something he once had dreamed about...

" Mario? Hey...?"

Luigi on the other hand said he had difficulties to realise his powers as well. They did find out that the power of Heart is the power of Souls but Mario had no idea what that could mean. Luigi... well, sometimes, Mario had a feeling that Luigi did know something but is afraid to do anything with this knowledge. Even if Mario couldn't begin to imagine what it could be. It confused him quite a bit. He was so used to knowing what Luigi was thinking...

(But he didn't. Not always. There were things Luigi hid from him, he knew. And other things Luigi told him about he had not known before... but it was not like that, wasn't it?)

Maybe if they were God Tier, it would become somewhat clearer...

" Mario!"

Luigis voice pulled him back to reality, back to the Quest Beds and his brother beside him. He looked at him.

" Yes?"

" Are you alright?"

" Yes... yes, just... something on my mind."

Luigi just nodded and looked to their beds.

" So... we have to die, huh?"

" ..."

" Taking the legendary nap?"

" ..."

" Bro?"

" ...I... it just doesn't seem right to me."

" ... I know, bro, but there is no other way, right?"

" Aren't you afraid?"

" Terrified. But... we... we did all kinds of things in the past... we can do this again. Together?"

There was something like hope shining in Luigi's eyes and Mario smiled a bit. Yeah, the biggest of their adventures they did do tackle together. Even if Luigi didn't always get the credit he deserved (not for the lack of trying on Mario's part, even if Luigi insisted that it didn't bother him), with him Mario always felt as if anything was possible.

" ... Okay. Together, Luigi."

And he took the hand of his brother for the last time and went to his Quest Bed, unsure what would happen next. But one thing was sure: Luigi would be just behind and beside him...like always.

_" What are you doing? … no... please... no you don't want that! Please... Please don't do this. Please don't do this... no... Please... you'll hurt... no... NooAAHHHH!"_

_" ..."_

_" ..."_

_" ..."_

_" Oh... s...stars... wh...what... have I done? No... nonononono NOOOOOOO!"_

Mario didn't find out how exactly he died on that day. Luigi said he saw it happen (Okay, he confessed it rather after a LOT of questions from Mario... who felt bad after that for bothering his brother so much) but he never told Mario what had happened and how. All he did tell was that Mario wouldn't want to know and after a while Mario gave up.

He trusted his brother and if Luigi was serious about something it was hard to get him to open up. He DID seek out to find his body, but at the time he found his Quest Bed again, there was only blood and no body left. A lot of blood, come to think about it, most of it where his head would have been. But it was a little morbid to ponder about this sort of thing and so Mario left it like that.

He just enjoyed the perks of being God Tier, a fully realised Heir of Time. His outfit was of a vibrant red and shaped like some kind of pyjama with dark red shoes. The Time Symbol was painted in dark red across his chest and a long hood, longer than he was tall, rested on his head instead of his iconic cap. It wasn't BAD but... a bit of silly if he thought about it. It tended to get into his way at first but as soon as he got the hang out of flying (yeah, he could FLY now! Definitely a bonus) the hood wasn't a problem anymore.

His newfound timepowers were just awesome! He could manipulate the flow of time itself, speed it up, slow it down, stop and start it... within limits, but even with that it was a huge help in fights and out.

And the help was desperately needed. There were just so many strong enem ies now. Even if he was kinda immortal, when his death was heroic or just, he would stay dead... and Mario knew full well that if he died, he would go down either heroic or just. (But he hoped that he never would end his game with a just death. There was no way to be certain, but he sure hoped that he would never go rogue and that someone had to put him down... mainly because the only one who could do it would be Luigi and Mario wouldn't want to put his brother through THAT.)

Mario looked in front of him. The battlefield of Skaia came closer and closer. He and Luigi both had something to do on their planets as soon as they had reached God Tier, so they had split up and agreed to meet each other on the battlefield again.

Mario still found it strange that it looked like a chess field.

He made it to the battlefield and could see Luigi fighting black knights. Luigi's outfit reminded Mario of a classic Knight costume with hood and all. It was coloured pink with dark accents, displaying the symbol of heart proudly on the front. And he fought with something... resembling a blade? Mario was confused about that. A new strifespecibus? Maybe this was some kind of power of Luigi? That or the blade was a vacuum in disguise?

Mario ran up to his brother. One of the knights slowed down, becoming an easy target for Luigi's blade while Mario kept his grip on the time. A second knight moved behind Luigi and would have him sliced in half if Mario hadn't sped himself up and rushed over, his hammer swinging at impossible-to-observe speed. In a fragment of a second, the knight was down.

Just then Luigi turned to his brother, his face brightened but also a bit shocked.

" Mario! Bro, it's good to see you. Are... are you okay?"

Mario smiled a bit.

"Yes, yes. Everything is okay. I'm just happy to see you." He glanced at Lugis costume again. After their ascension to Godhood there had been simply no time for checking out each other's new looks. Mario grinned. "Nice outfit, Luigi. Very... pink."

Luigi made a face, a bit annoyed.

" You are one to talk, Red Pyjama."

Mario laughed.

" Yeah, yeah. It's a bit glaring. But we both should be thankful that none of us is a page or a prince... THEIR costumes tended to look a bit silly on the pictures, huh?"

Luigi now seemed surprised.

" You have seen pictures?"

"Well... yes? Didn't your consorts had some kind of... caves and temples devoted to the God Tiers?"

" Yes, but only to the Knight of Heart... I have read about other ones, but there were no pictures..."

" Maybe because of the shade? It was dark on your planet..."

" Yes... it... is dark." Luigi said, voice a bit distant and sounding a bit... upset? Mario looked a him.

" Hey... Are you okay?"

" Hmm? Oh... yes, yes. I'm okay, bro."

" ... are you sure? If there is something you want to talk about... I'm there, okay?"

" ...yeah. I know. Just... I'm okay. It's just a bit weird."

Mario smiled.

" Yeah, I know... But it's still pretty cool. Come on, bro. Let's look around a bit and try to find the Space player. He or she has to be around... If not in God Tier form, then at least their dream-self."

Luigi didn't say anything, he just nodded, captchalogged his blade and followed Mario through Skaia. Just like always.

_" Why did you start playing the game? Why would you do this?"_

_" I... I thought... that... that if I can't have... I just thought that I could have the thing I wanted from the game... when I couldn't get in in Real Life..."_


	5. Chapter 5

The first time they slept since reaching God Tier, they slept back-to-back in a white tower on Skaia. It wasn't very comfortable, but Mario felt as if something bad would happen if they separated to sleep. (Maybe he just wanted to stay in contact, to feel his brother by his side... they DIED not long before and came back and.. well... he was only human.)

So they slept next to each other and Mario had his first Dream bubble dream.

It looked a lot like home, Mushroom Kingdom and all the lands he had crossed so many times in the past. Green and happy, with flowers and trees and hills on the horizon.

It was so beautiful.

But before him stood Luigi, his eyes white, his clothes torn and blood seeping from a hole in his chest.

" Mario? Oh... oh Gambi... you are alive.", he said, taking a few steps towards him, before halting. "N...no. You,.. you are another one, aren't you? Your brother is alive. I... I'm not. My... my brother is still out there."

And before Mario could say anything the other Luigi disappeared.

Shaken from this sight Mario just HAD to find his brother. He had to. He had to make sure...

" Luigi? LUIGI!"

And the once peaceful landscape turned into a nightmare for him. Twisted turns, countrysides clashing, snow with deserts and forests with seas and lava seeping into his dream and on the corner of his eye, Mario could see something else.

Boo Forest. The place where the damned haunted Mansion was located. The place where his brother had to go through one of his worst nights ever. Even if Mario was proud of his brother to conquer his fears to rescue him, he could have done without this experience, too.

He really, really hated Boos now.

He entered the Mansion and near-darkness engulfed him. There were no ghosts in sight but it was still creepy. Mario wandered through the rooms, sometimes calling for his brother, sometimes trying to feel for him. It was hard, ever since the game started and even harder now in this dream.

And confusing. The last time he was in a dream with Luigi he never had a problem knowing where his brother was...

He found him in a room on the top-level of the mansion, with three telephones in it.

It would have been strange or slightly amusing if not for the sight of his brother sitting on the floor, looking so horror-stricken at the wall before him. And Mario looked, too.

He wished he hadn't.

The room was only poorly lit, but it was enough for sharp shadows to form. And on the wall before them they formed Luig i's silhouette, hanging on a rope from the roof. The shadows showed his brother's death.

His brother's death...

He was by Luigi in an instant, forcing him to look at his eyes.

Mario was never so relieved to see blue eyes looking at him.

" Luigi?"

It was just now that Luigi seemed to understand who was before him and he looked away, looked ashamed and Mario didn't understand WHY.

" I never wanted you to see that..."

" D...did that really happened?"

Luigis silence was more than enough.

" It... it's just a shadow..."

" It's horrifying. … did anything else happen in the mansion?"

" Do you really want to know?", asked Luigi and his voice... Mario had never heard his brother sounding so... dead. It scared him.

The worst part was that he didn't get an answer before they woke up.

In the morning, Luigi didn't look at him and didn't say anything about the dream. Mario took this as a sign to keep silent.

If his brother wanted to talk, he was there. But the middle of a world-altering game wasn't quite the best time for that...

_" Go to bed. I will always just scare the ghosts away."_

_" Really?"_

_" Really. They don't stand a chance against a REAL GHOST BUSTER!"_

It wasn't long after that that they met some new faces on Skaia. Familiar faces. It turned out that Peach and Daisy also were in the Game. Peach as the Mage of Mind and Daisy the Rogue of Space. Mario didn't want to think too much about all that. So they kept their reunion short, Peach using her parasol-kind to wrack some Goomba-Imps while Daisy punched an Ogre with her bare fist. The monster went down with a shriek and Mario looked at Luigi and couldn't suppress a grin at his expression: Fear and admiration. Or, as Mario would call it: "Luigi is in love." (or, well... admiring someone. He DID get the same expression sometimes with Peasley.)

Daisy was a force of nature. Mario couldn't begin to understand why Luigi was drawn to her, seeing that her personality clashed quite a bit with Luigi's, but maybe that was what let them coexist so harmonically together. Daisy just wasn't very princess-like and often took the lead and Luigi wasn't a leader-type, content to follow Daisy's orders.

Mario smiled a bit, still not having figured out what made them tick, but content to leave it as it was as long as both of them were happy. So he concentrated on the other princess.

Peach... Peach was really in her element.

Mario didn't know much about Mind players. He came across some lore about all the aspects and classes of the game, but it had not been much to go around. He knew that the player of Mind had something to do with planning and what people were thinking, strategies and ideas. Maybe even creatively. A Mage was an offensive class that used their aspect as a weapon to manipulate but can also be manipulated by their aspect.

Mario didn't even try to pretend that he could understand all of that but he gathered that a Mind player would have something to do with planning and saying what course of action was best.

And Peach did exactly that. She made plans, gathered information from the consorts and solved problems for them. She wasn't a fighter per se. She could whack pretty hard with her parasol but mostly stayed out of fights and let Mario and Daisy handle the fighting.

And Daisy... Well, he did see her stealing space. And giving it. It was... well... he couldn't quite describe it. But she was someone he wouldn't want to cross.

They discovered the Portals to their planets. Peach went to a laboratory. Mario stayed on Skaia, trying to find the battling armies. He knew that they couldn't take on the Black King just yet, but he wanted to see where the White army was and how their enemy operated.

He just hoped that they wouldn't be too late.

Luigi went with Daisy to breed the Genesis Frog in the Land of Flowers and Frogs. Mario saw them going to the pipe and wished he could go and see Peach's planet. Her brief description of the Land of Cake and Clockwork sounded there was no rest for him yet, just work, work and work.

But Mario knew they could do it. They would slay the Black King, they would create the Genesis Frog, they would create a new universe for them to live in. He knew it because he could feel his brother fighting, had seen Peach holding her own and knew that Daisy would do her part. He had his friends and family and together they would make everything happen!

_" How was your childhood anyway?"_

_" Oh, we grew up together, doing everything together... you know? I remember the Yoshis and the old wriggler-lady next door..."_

_" ... I remember a place called Brooklyn... but I think I only dreamed about it."_

_" Brooklyn? I never have heard about a place like that. You have a strange imagination, you know?"_

_" Yeah... I know..."_

_But I was so sure... so sure, but then..._

Mario did find the White King, but in a dire situation: Deadly wounded, he lay on a bed in a big tower, blood covering the ground and his Queen beside him. He wasn't dead yet but unable to fight, unable to do anything but to hang on to dear life.

Because the fight would be lost if the King died.

The Queen stood beside him and talked to the other white... people in the room. She still had her Ring on her finger, giving her a Koopa Shell, Goomba-teeth, Fireflower-pedals around her neck, a Ghost-tail instead of feet, wings of a Parakoopa and a Yoshi's tongue and she still managed to look royal and powerful.

She reminded Mario a bit of Peach. And even if the King and the Queen were totally different from any other life form Mario had seen, the look they gave each other...

They loved each other. It was as simple as that.

Mario had to leave the room. He felt like intruding, even if he was only one of many people in the room. He jumped on the top of the tower, sitting there. Nighttime was coming, the usually blue sky turning dark and stars started to appear in the clouds that sometimes showed visions of something that could happen, was happening or would still happen.

After a short while (4 minutes, 24 seconds...) he felt someone sitting down beside him. Green robes rustled next to him and a delicate smell of fine parfume in the air reached his nose.

" The White King... he doesn't have much time.", said Peach, her voice low and quiet. Mario didn't hear her often this... down. Full of sorrow.

" Yeah.", he said. "Do... do you know a way to help him?"

" No... Maybe I can do something so he will have more time, but he will die."

" Did... did you see the White Queen?"

" She takes it with grace. She has a kingdom to look over. A war to fight. She can't grieve.", explained Peach, not without a bit of bitterness in her voice.

" ... it must be sad life. Being a royal."

" Sometimes it is.", said Peach. "Sometimes it's really, really sad and lonely. Daisy hates it."

" And you?"

" I like helping my Toads. And...", she started, looking at Mario and smiled, a slight smile he thought looked just so perfect. "And I have you... and Luigi and Toad and other people. You help me more than you know."

" I'm just a plumber."

" You are the hero of my kingdom. And MY hero, Mario. Not just because you beat Bowser, not only because you rescued me and never wanted a reward..."

" You are my friend, of COURSE I wouldn't want anything for rescuing you!", interrupted Mario, wanting to make this point clear.

There had been many, many voices in the past about that. About how Peach "only gave him cake" and should "put out" for him, as if she had to DO something as a kind of payment for him. And it made him really, really mad. Because he did what he did because it was the RIGHT THING TO DO. Yeah, there were a LOT of speculations on his relationship to Peach. And Mario made it clear that he disapproved of everyone badmouthing the princess.

Yes, he did love the princess, it was hard not to. But his love for her was a kind of admiration for her.

She was wonderful in his eyes. Something so precious and pure. Someone he really enjoyed spending time with, no matter what. Someone who could understand that there were days he wouldn't say a word and other where he couldn't stop talking. Someone who made him laugh and who laughed with him.

And as long as she was happy and wanted to share some of her time with him, he was content.

That, and in fact, he did like cake. Peach could bake pretty well.

" I know, but... let me finish this, okay? You are my hero and so much more, because you are a good person.", said Peach, still smiling. "Whenever somebody needs help, you help. Whenever somebody asks for you, you will answer. You will smile and will be friendly. You are like a sun."

Mario flinched a bit at that, but said nothing. Peach didn't know...

" lighting up everything around you.", she closed.

Mario had to look away, look down, feeling his ears beginning to burn with redness. He just wasn't used to the princess praising him like that.

" I'm just doing what is right.", he said.

" And it is a very brave thing to do.", said Peach, smiling. She came a bit nearer, took one of his hands and his cap from his head, making him look into her eyes. "And one of the things I really admire about you, Mario."

And he just... didn't know what to do. So he just stared at her, unsure what to do until Peach made the decision for him. She warped her beautiful delicate arms around him, pulling him into a hug and Mario returned it after a few seconds.

The wonderful smell of peaches and flowers surrounded him. And he hadn't felt so warm in a long, long time.

_" Luigi? Your brother is very weak... please be careful, okay?"_

_" I always am, mom! Don't worry. Hey, Mario? Do you want to play a game with me?"_

_" Of course! I hate being in bed all this time... why do I always have to get sick?"_

_" I don't know but it blows... Come on, I got a new board-game from dad, we can play it on your bed."_

_" Sounds okay... but I really, really wish I could do more stuff than sitting here and playing board-games..."_

_" What do you want to do?"_

_" Sports! Soccer, Baseball, Golf, Tennis, everything! I wish I could drive a kart or... or a boat. I want to go snowboarding or skying and to the beach. I wish I could go to Olympia! Just... just something other than sitting in a bed all the time. I want to go out and do stuff and meet people and make a whole lot of friends."_

_I wish for a world where you can._

Mario never expected anything from the princess. He was content to give her anything she would ask for and she would never ask for something he couldn't give.

And Peach took his hand and kissed his forehead an d smiled so sweetly at him.

And something in him said that he should remember something. Something he forgot. But he did not.

_" I love you."_

_" So do I."_

And Mario just let himself fall, his dear princess by his side, the Mage of Mind and the world around him faded away. Just for a little while. Just a bit.

_" What do you believe? That there is some sort of fated perfect match out there, a soulmate just waiting for you?"_

_" I don't know... I personally don't think so. There are many people who you could fall in love with and who could love you. Maybe there isn't even the "perfect one" but a lot of people who are worth the effort to try. The soulmate thing seems a bit too cliché, huh?"_

_" Yeah, I think that you are right... But it would be nice to know if... if I will find someone..."_

_" You will. Just because there is no secret-fate-magic that binds people literally together, doesn't mean that there isn't anybody out there for you. Just that there are more people out there.""_


End file.
